Feinting and jabbing on the touchline, he resembled a man chopping wood while
swatting bees from his face. Paolo Di Canio is never knowingly understated,
but it was not until the end of another narrative-shifting victory, a second
Sunderland bogeyman unmasked in the space of the week, that he strode on to
the pitch and, like a demented conductor, orchestrated the crowd’s
jubilation.

It was some performance; from a team who, not too long ago, were traipsing
towards a precipice, from a manager whose appointment has injected a
shockwave of energy. A cult of personality is developing on Wearside with